1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thread milling cutter with positioned tooth flanks and which is imparted with rotational, circular and feed movements for effecting thread milling at which, upon thread milling of a work piece, chips having a definite thickness are produced, with the rotational speed of the rotational movement exceeding the rotational speed of the circular movement, which thread milling cutter includes at least two rows of teeth and extending parallel to each other, with the teeth of both rows having the same height and two flanks, with each flank occupying a predetermined position with respect to a longitudinal axis of the thread milling cutter, and with the respective teeth of both rows being associated with respective circumferential planes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A thread milling cutter of this type is disclosed in European Publication EP-0 429 917. In this milling cutter, all of the teeth of all rows associated with respective circumferential planes have the same shape. The flanks of all of the teeth associated with a respective circumferential plane occupy, with respect to the thread milling cutter axis, the same position. In the thread milling cutter of this European application, each tooth removes metal at both flanks in the same way all the time. Thereby, a V-shaped chip is formed which, because of its cross-section, is released from and rolls off the workpiece with some difficulty. Thereby, the necessary cutting force is relatively high.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is a thread milling cutter of the above-discussed type which permits milling of a thread with a smaller cutting force.
Another object of the present invention is a thread milling cutter of the above-discussed type which provides for a better release of a chip from the workpiece during the milling operation.